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The show revolves around the life of everymanItalian-American Raymond Barone, a sportswriter for Newsday living with his family in Long Island. Beleaguered, diffident and dryly sarcastic, Raymond takes few things seriously, making jokes in nearly every situation, no matter how troubling or serious. He often avoids responsibilities around the house and with his kids, leaving this to wife Debra.

Raymond and Debra have a daughter Ally (Alexandra) and twin sons Michael and Geoffrey (originally Matthew and Gregory in the pilot). The Barone children are regular characters but not a major focus. Raymond's parents, Marie and Frank, live across the street with older son Robert (who, later in the series, has his own apartment). All Barone relatives frequently make their presence known to the annoyance of Raymond and Debra; Debra's justifiable complaints about Raymond's overbearing family serve as one of the show's comedic elements. Out of the three unwanted visitors, Debra is particularly intimidated by Marie, an insulting, controlling, manipulative (though ultimately caring) woman who criticizes Debra passive-aggressively and praises Ray, clearly favoring him over other son "Robbie," whose birth necessitated her marriage (a fact revealed in the episode "Good Girls").

Raymond typically falls in the middle of family arguments, incapable of taking any decisive stand, especially if it might invoke his mother's disapproval. Robert, a miserable gentle giant, jealous of his younger sibling's position as favorite son and also of the success his brother has achieved both professionally and personally, is Ray's biggest rival. Robert and Raymond frequently argue like overgrown children, focusing much of their energy on picking on or one upping each other, although deep down they love each other dearly.

Barone patriarch Frank is a fiery retiree prone to directing insults and merciless put-downs at any and all targets. Largely an absentee father when the boys were growing up, Frank buries his feelings and rarely yields to sentiment. As the series progresses, however, several episodes demonstrate that the senior Barone loves his family immensely. Unlike everyone else, Frank has no problem comically criticizing Marie and often comes to Debra's defense whenever Marie comments disparagingly about their daughter-in-law.

Raymond and Debra's marriage is fraught with conflicts. Raymond prefers sports television over discussions with Debra on marital matters. Like his father, Raymond works full-time, leaving most child-rearing responsibilities to his wife; and he is often forced to help around the house. One of the show's recurring elements finds the couple having a long discussion in bed each night before going to sleep.

Raymond "Ray" Barone (Ray Romano) is a sportswriter for Newsday. He lives in Lynbrook, Long Island with his wife, Debra, and their three children Alexandra ("Ally"), Geoffrey, and Michael. His parents Frank & Marie and brother Robert live across the street. Raymond's character is loosely based on the real-life Romano, as he is the father of twin boys and a girl. Ray is emotionally unable to take any sort of stand on anything, especially if it brings him to any sort of conflict with his mother—the exception is when he protests about sex or some trivial matter. Raymond's mother favors him over Robert.

Debra (née Whelan) Barone (Patricia Heaton) is Raymond's wife, and mother of Ally, Michael and Geoffrey. As a housewife, Debra claims she is frequently overworked, under-appreciated and stressed out. This leads to her yelling, largely because she has to deal with all the housework and her three rambunctious children with almost no assistance or support from Raymond; she constantly puts up with Marie's intrusiveness and criticism. On frequent occasions this frustration boils over and is vented towards Raymond. While Debra has a fractious relationship with Marie, she is shown to be fond of her in-laws on many occasions – particularly brother-in-law Robert and also to Frank.

Robert Barone (Brad Garrett) is Raymond's older brother and the son of Frank and Marie. Standing at 6'8½" (2.04 m), he is the tallest Barone, and has several quirks, the biggest being a nervous habit of touching food to his chin before eating it, once referred to as "crazy chin." Robert is a very loving uncle and still cares for Raymond, but is often jealous of the attention that Raymond receives from their mother, to the exclusion of his every achievement. Robert has been a New York City police officer for over 23 years (explicitly stated as 15 years early in season 1), and attains the rank of lieutenant by the end of the series. His height, appearance and demeanor are the source of much humor. However, despite his imposing size, Robert is a very skilled dancer. Divorced from first wife Joanne prior to the beginning of the series, he is frequently unlucky with women, until his on-off relationship with Amy finally results in marriage.

Marie Barone (Doris Roberts) is Raymond and Robert's mother and the wife of Frank. Intrusive, controlling, manipulative and over-nurturing (at least with Raymond), she is a housewife who excels in cooking, cleaning, and other things dealing with keeping a good home and family. Marie and Frank live across the street from Raymond and Debra in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York which often irritates the latter couple.

Francis "Frank" Barone (Peter Boyle) is Raymond's father and Marie's husband, a retired bookkeeper, and registered real estate agent, with a stubborn masculine personality. A United States Armyveteran, Frank served in the Korean War, which he frequently brings up to the annoyance of everyone, especially his sons. He is a member of the Order of the Caribou Lodge, and was named Man of the Year by his lodge.

Amy McDougall/Barone (Monica Horan) becomes Robert Barone's second wife (in season 7), and is the best friend of Debra, who introduces her to Robert. A recurring character for the first seven seasons of the series, Amy became essentially a regular cast member for the remainder of the show's run. However, Horan's name did not get added to the opening credits until the final season. Many issues cause Amy and Robert to break up in the first six seasons, with one being caused by Raymond, and another happening because Robert was seeing other women, one of whom was his ex-wife. Quite often, Amy apologizes to someone even if she did not do anything wrong. She was born to very religious parents who, according to Amy, "wouldn't yell if they were on fire." In real life, Horan is the wife of creator/executive producer Philip Rosenthal.

Alexandra "Ally" Barone (Madylin Sweeten) is the daughter of Raymond and Debra. She is the oldest of the Barone children. She is not seen much, even though she is credited in the main cast. She is said to be a better cook than her mother, and maybe someday her grandmother. In real life, Madylin is the sister of Sawyer and Sullivan Sweeten.

Geoffrey Barone (Sawyer Sweeten) and Michael Barone (Sullivan Sweeten) are the twin sons of Raymond and Debra. Their names in the pilot were Gregory and Matthew. In real life, twins Sawyer and Sullivan are brothers of Madylin Sweeten.

The first crossover happened on The King of Queens. In it, Ray Barone and Doug Heffernan become friends. Later on the same night, Kevin James showed up on Everybody Loves Raymond as Doug Heffernan.[2] The shows would go on to crossover several more times.

There are two continuity errors in this universe. Kevin James played a different character on Everybody Loves Raymond than on The King of Queens. The second one is that Chris Elliott (similar to the first) appeared as one character on Everybody Loves Raymond, and another on The King of Queens.

In 2009, series creator/producer Philip Rosenthal traveled to Russia to adapt the show for local audiences. His experience was documented by a film crew and released as the documentary feature Exporting Raymond.[3] The Russian version is titled (in Russian)Воронины[4] (The Voronins, a Russian surname sounding similar to the family's name, The Barones).[5]

The show was adapted in Poland under the title Wszyscy kochają Romana (Everybody Loves Roman).[6] It was picked up by TVN and premiered on September 2, 2011. However, due to low ratings (less than 2 million viewers a week), the station put the show on hiatus after four episodes.[7]

In Egypt, a sitcom called El Bab Fil Bab (الباب في الباب ), which means "Close Doors" in Arabic, is produced by Sony Pictures Television, translating Everybody Loves Raymond with minor changes to adapt the Eastern Culture. The first season aired in the month of Ramadan 2011; second season in 2012.

A Dutch remake called Iedereen is gek op Jack (Everybody is crazy about Jack) premiered in 2011. The second season started airing in March 2012.

HBO released the Complete Series of Everybody Loves Raymond on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4. Region 4 Complete Box Set was released on August 13, 2008. In Australia, the first five seasons were re-released in 2006 in slimmer packaging (originals were wide spine cases). Also, some were released with a cardboard slip cover. Also, in North America, the first two seasons were each re-released in 2010 in standard keep cases with cardboard slipcovers in a double-season pack. It is unknown whether or not they will be sold individually like this. Also, in 2012, the sixth and seventh season two-pack was reissued in the keep case packaging. Recently, Season 9 was re-released in standard keep cases. It is also unknown whether or not the remaining seasons will be reissued in the slimmer packaging. As of September 2012, all episodes are available on Netflix for streaming. Also on September 14, 2004 The Complete 1st Season was released on VHS. The sixth-season DVD set contained the episode "Marie's Sculpture", which previously had not aired in the United Kingdom and was not released until almost five years after the end of the 6th season.

Two Entertainment Weekly reviews of the show have been posted. Ken Tucker's review shortly after the show's debut awarded it a B+; he stated the show's writing wasn't "top-notch", but "Romano manages to communicate something distinctive."[11] A 1997 review by Bruce Fretts, which gave the show the same score, said that the show "may now be the best sitcom on the air."[12]Common Sense Media's Betsy Wallace, who awarded the show four out of five stars, wrote: "the cast is stellar and plotlines shed light on universal human insecurities, such as doubting that your spouse still finds you attractive as you grow older." However, she warned that the show's "intimacy issues of married couples -- including (in)frequency of sex -- often take center stage," as well as the show's mild language.[13]Plugged In said in their review, "Seven years and a mantle full of Emmys later, Raymond is still smartly scripted, now with new characters added to a maturing, expanding family."[14] In 2013, Complex ranked the show as 49th of "The 50 Funniest TV Comedies of All Time", with writer Matt Barone saying that "You'd want to pat Ray on the shoulder and say, 'We feel for you, man,' if you weren't laughing so hard."[15] Also in 2013, TV Guide ranked it #60 on its list of the "60 Best Series of All Time".[16]

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. All times mentioned in this section were Eastern & Pacific

The series finale scored a 20.2 household rating, 32.94 million viewers[17] (29% of all viewers at the time) and an 11.2 rating among adults 18–49. At 8pm, Everybody Loves Raymond: The Last Laugh averaged a 15.3 household rating, 24.52 million viewers and a 7.5 among adults 18–49. Throughout the latter six seasons of the show, Everybody Loves Raymond maintained its position on the top ten rankings.